Reunion
by Cole224
Summary: Damon goes to wake up Elijah and finds a surprise straight out of his own past. Kol/Damon. No longer a Oneshot.
1. Chapter 1

So…I guess I'm trying my hand at TVD slash now…I'd like to say that Elijah and Kol are the only two original vampires that don't annoy the crap out of me and when I was watching the new seasons, and all the scenes with Kol, I think I realized why. Rebekah and Klaus act more like teenagers than the actual teenagers on the show. It's a real bummer that Elijah and Kol got the least amount of screen time out of all of them.

This story is set when Damon goes to wake up Elijah, although there is a small flashback in the beginning.

I don't own anything

_Damon actually stumbled when the much stronger vampire pulled him along towards the building. He'd drank enough during the night for it to affect him but trusted the much stronger vampire dragging him by the hand that he wasn't overly worried about the amount of alcohol he'd consumed._

_"Tomorrow, I will have to go and meet my family." He turned to Damon abruptly and was very suddenly pressing him against the nearest wall. _

_"And tonight?" Damon asked, allowing him to press close. _

_"Tonight? I want to have some fun." _

"You…"

He'd opened the wrong coffin. Well, there were four of them and he was only looking for one and he'd opened the wrong one first and had to stop short. Even through the graying, the face was unmistakable.

Then, before he could even think about what he was doing, he'd closed his fist around the dagger sticking out of the original's chest.

"Oh, this is a bad idea." Damon stopped short again, drawing back without the dagger. "Hmmm. You know I shouldn't be surprised about this," he commented to himself, opening another of the coffins, the right one this time. "Just when you think this town couldn't make things more complicated."

Damon grasped the dagger sticking out of Elijah's chest and this time did not hesitate, yanking it out. He stood in the center of the room for several moments, twirling the thing before going back to the other.

"I am so going to regret this."

Xxxxxxxxx

Damon had the rest of the day to over think things. It was becoming, he reflected as he poured himself another glass of bourbon, a bad habit ever since he'd come back to Mystic Falls. Still, he could not seem to help himself with this one.

Maybe he should have been more surprised. But all he could really think about in that moment was Katherine and how incredibly stupid he'd been. All he could think about was those moments in time when he'd almost made the decision to stop looking for her nearly a hundred years before he'd opened the tomb.

"Hello, Love."

Damon only had a second to register the all too familiar voice, and to set down the glass of alcohol before there was a rush and he was very suddenly pressed against the nearest wall, face first and an all too familiar body was pressed close against his back.

"Did you miss me?"

"Come on now, Kol. Why would I miss you?"

"Why would you wake me up if not?" Kol pressed closer to him, leaving no space between their bodies.

"Curiosity?" Damon suggested with a bit of a smirk, although he made no attempt at breaking Kol's grip on him.

"Is that what this is then?" Kol reached around and gripped him almost painfully through his jeans before abruptly releasing him and sauntering over towards the liquor cabinet. Damon only took a second to regain his composure-and his smirk-before he turned to face the other vampire.

"Have a nice family reunion?" He asked, accepting the glass Kol offered.

"Yes, it was entertaining to see my brother's face when he opened the coffin he'd stuffed me in and didn't find me there."

"Wish I could've seen it," Damon said. He was internally aware that he was having such a casual conversation with the man that he had spent near to a hundred years trying his best not to even _think _about.

"How long?" He couldn't help but to ask, even if he sort of hated himself as soon as the words escaped.

"Two nights after," Kol stated.

Damon's eyebrows shot up. He got the meaning behind the words and remembered very clearly how the last time he'd seen Kol, he'd been grumbling about how he needed to go meet his brother. Two nights after…

Of course, at the time, Damon hadn't known about the vampire before him was an original.

"Did you think I'd simply left?" Kol stepped closer to him, into his personal space again. "I would have, you know? Eventually."

"Of course." But Damon's smirk was in full bloom now. He'd heard that before. He shouldn't have believed it then. He wondered briefly what he would have done if he hadn't.

"I'm sure you have many important things you need to discuss with Elijah. Let's leave that for tomorrow, shall we?"

"And tonight?" Damon asked, closing the distance between them that Kol hadn't yet.

Kol gave him one of those grins. "I've spent the last hundred years in a coffin. Tonight I want to have some fun."

It was the only warning Damon got-the only warning he ever got-before Kol grabbed a hold of him and took him up to his room at a speed that Damon would never be able to match. He decided, at least for the night, that he would leave the over thinking to people like his brother.

Xxxxx

This is just a oneshot for now that I might turn into a longer story or maybe a series. I'm not sure yet. I'm not even sure if people like this pairing…


	2. Chapter 2

I actually got one of those pairing flames for this story. The "ew, no! Damon's not gay!" kind. I was beginning to think those types of reviews no longer existed considering I haven't had one in, well, ever actually. Not that I remember anyway. I was just wondering about it. Do you guys get lots of those reviews in the TVD section? It's not going to affect my writing, I was just curious since this is the first one I've ever gotten.

So, I guess I have decided to continue this story. Because of that, I've upped the rating. Lines in italics are direct quotes from the episode Bringing Out the Dead.

Xxxxxxxx

Neither of their clothes lasted longer than a few minutes. It was a fight, really, at first. It always was. Nothing with them had ever been tame, or anywhere near gentle. At least, not at first. And it wasn't long before they were both devoid of any type of clothing and Kol was on top of him on the bed. His grip on Damon's wrists wasn't strong. Or, at least, he wasn't using his full strength, not enough that Damon couldn't break away from.

Kol could always have easily held him down and kept him there and, even though Damon hadn't known it all those years ago when they'd first starting doing this, he could have compelled Damon as well but Damon knew that Kol liked it better this way. He liked that Damon could break his grip and simply did not want to.

"I take it you continued on your quest to free that woman after I was gone."

"You're the one that left." It was the closest he'd come to admit out loud that maybe things would have been different if Kol hadn't disappeared.

"Not by choice." It was the closest Kol would come to admitting out loud that he might not have chosen to leave. Maybe it was enough. There was no more talking after that.

Xxxxxx

"_Dear Elijah, let's get together, plot the destruction of your brother. XOXO,-" _

_"Damon." _

"You're not cheating on me, are you darling?" Kol's voice drew both Damon and Elijah's attention. There was an amused smile on Kol's face as he drew closer to them and rested an elbow on Damon's shoulder.

"What are you doing here?" Elijah asked. Dealing with Damon Salvatore was trying enough. Kol could be even more volatile when he wanted to be.

"You're planning something. Were you thinking of leaving me out of it?"

"No," Elijah answered immediately, almost smiling himself. "I had thought on involving not just you."

"Excellent." Kol clapped his hands together and grinned a bit wider. "I must admit I have been itching for some violence. There will be violence, yes?"

Damon raised an eyebrow, watching Elijah. He'd been a little worried that this had been a bad idea. After all, Elijah had professed the want to kill Klaus before and then had backed out at the last second.

"I imagine there will be," was Elijah's only answer.

"Great. Let's plan quickly then. I have so many years of lying around and doing nothing to make up for." He was looking at Damon as he said this and there was absolutely nothing innocent about his expression.

Xxxxxxxx

"_Get dressed. We're going out." _

_"Yeah, sorry. Not interested." _

_"I didn't ask. Elijah and I have scheduled a very old fashioned sit down with you and Klaus. I say go with the black. Makes you look all villainy." _

"You're an idiot," Stefan said, turning to glare at Damon. "Waking Elijah was bad enough. You just had to wake another one? Why didn't you just wake them all up while you were at it?"

"Heard about that, did you?" Damon couldn't help but to smirk, especially when he thought about just what he and Kol had been doing earlier.

"Yeah. Smart. You unleashed two originals to what? Help Klaus kill us all?"

"_Un-daggering Elijah was smart, Stefan. After what Klaus did to him, he's in vengeance mode."_

"And the other one? You just decided to trust an original you've never met because what? You liked the look of him while he was lying in a coffin?"

"Who says I've never met him?" Damon countered, with a half shrug. "Trust _me _on this Stefan: At the moment, I trust Kol a hell of a lot more than I do you."

"_Well, guess that goes both ways, doesn't it?" _

_"Ooooh, yes. This is about me kissing Elena." _Damon paused, stopped short suddenly as he thought about it. He'd fallen into bed easily with Kol as soon as the older vampire had shown up at the house. And it had been incredibly easy. Too easy, maybe, to completely forget about Elena and everything else.

For several moments, Damon stood still with that realization. He couldn't really escape everything. He couldn't deny the feeling that had welled up in him at the knowledge that Kol hadn't actually left the way he'd thought.

Kol leaving had been enough for him to flip the switch.

"Damon?" Stefan snapped his fingers in his face, and looked highly amused when Damon blinked like he was coming out of some trance.

Damon scowled at him. "Just get ready. _We're going to negotiate a fake truce and I don't want your attitude ruining it_."

Damon did not lose his stride when he made it to his room, even after spotting Kol lying on his bed, legs crossed at the ankle and reading browsing through the books Damon had left on his nightstand.

"Skipping out?" Damon asked.

"Oh, no. I'll be there. Later, though. You and your brother can work out the details with mine first."

"And when it comes to the inevitable violence…"

Kol only grinned at him. "Tell me something. Why are you going to all this trouble? Why not just…leave?"

Damon had to fight not to grimace at that, and he definitely didn't want to get into a long explanation about Elena and about how Kol's reappearance in his life just served to complicate that situation to an extreme degree.

"Maybe I just like trouble," he settled on finally. "This town certainly never gets boring."

"Yes, getting shot, tortured, and nearly killed on a weekly basis does sound fun." Kol's tone was somewhere between sarcasm and amusement.

"What, you can see the past now?"

"No, but I can read about it." He picked up something from the bed on the other side of him, holding it up for inspection and Damon snorted when he realized that it was one of Stefan's journals.

"Reading other people's diaries? I don't know…isn't that a little high school?" Damon asked with sarcasm of his own. Kol responded by moving and he was very suddenly in Damon's personal space, backing him into the nearest wall.

"So, tell me, you love this girl? Elena?" He asked, his stare intense, although there was no try at compulsion.

"Why? Jealous?"

Kol smirked and then one of his hands went low, undoing Damon's belt at record speed and the same hand was down his pants, gripping him tightly.

"Tell me. You loved the other, a hundred years ago. Katherine?"

It wasn't Kol's hands that had him answering but more his eyes. "I would have given it up," he finally admitted out loud.

Kol smiled again, this time with no teasing. "I would have stayed." He withdrew his hand and Damon was too surprised by the admission to protest. Instead, he studied Kol's features for a moment, looking for the truth in it.

"Damon!" His brother's impatient yell broke Damon from his thoughts.

"I expect your brother will have many questions," Kol commented, back to teasing.

Damon really did groan then even as he buttoned his pants and belt. Stefan would have heard all of that, of course. "I think I might hate you."

Kol only grinned again and dropped back down on his bed. "Liar."


	3. Chapter 3

Damon ignored all of Stefan's questions when he finally made it downstairs and they headed towards the meeting he'd set up with Klaus and Elijah. He knew how this was going to end. Stefan didn't but he did and he was in no mood to try and describe the nature of his relationship with Kol.

Damon mostly ignored his brother on the way over, and the questions ranging from _what the hell were you thinking? _To _Are you sure you aren't being compelled? _They stopped when they finally reached Klaus' and it actually went better than Damon had expected.

Even Klaus' jabs about Elena didn't bother him like they should have, like they might have before he'd opened the wrong coffin. However, the look on Klaus' face when Elijah entered the room surrounded by, not just Kol, but Rebekah and Finn as well was priceless. He kind of wished he'd had a camera to capture the moment.

He'd dragged Stefan out of the room just as Kol had pinned Klaus' arms back, holding him in place. Damon had only turned back briefly to meet Kol's eyes before the door closed and the grin that Damon was becoming to think of as Kol's trademark and the wink he received in return had the smile forming on Damon's face as well.

The smile didn't fade until much later when Kol did not show back up.

Xxxxxx

"_It was their mother Esther that was sealed in that coffin." _

_"As in the original witch?" _

_"What? How is she even alive? I thought her hybrid freak show of a son ripped her heart out a thousand years ago." _

Damon paced, only half paying attention to the conversation Stefan and Elena were having. He hadn't seen Kol since he and Stefan had left him with his siblings at Klaus'. He wouldn't admit it to either of the two people in the room with him currently but he hadn't exactly slept-at all-the night before.

A part of him had been worried that maybe, despite the fact that he had been outnumbered, Klaus could have gotten the upper hand. Or, that Kol had decided to simply skip town with Elijah and the others.

This, however, was a bit surprising. Kol had hardly spoken of either his father or mother when they had known each other a century ago.

"Damon." Stefan's voice and a hand on his shoulder broke him out of his thoughts and he turned to the two of them.

"What?"

Stefan took a step back, eyeing him. "Maybe Elena should know all the details. Like the fact that Elijah wasn't the only original you decided to wake up. Or that you seem to be a little bit too close to one of them."

Damon glared briefly at his brother. This was payback for not answering Stefan's questions from before, and probably a little bit for kissing Elena.

"I wouldn't talk, brother. Just how close did you and Rebekah get back before you decided to grow a conscious?"

"This isn't about me, Damon. And I don't give a damn about Rebekah now. You, on the other hand…from what I heard…"

"What is he talking about?" Elena was frowning. There was a hint of something in her eyes that might have been jealousy along with the confusion.

"Fine." Damon scowled at his brother. "I met Kol a little over a hundred years ago. Actually, we met up a lot back then over the course of I'd say…ten years."

"Ten years?" Elena repeated, her voice going high. "You…you and an original? Why didn't you say anything?"

"Didn't actually know he was an original at the time," Damon answered with a shrug. He kept his voice casual but he couldn't help but to notice that look in Elena's eyes growing.

Elena opened her mouth to answer that when the doorbell rang and Elena was distracted enough by the invitation Esther had sent that Damon slipped out without her even noticing.

Xxxxxxxxx

"Tell me how handsome I am." Those were the words that greeted him when Damon stepped into his room. Kol was standing in front of his mirror, decked out in a suit, complete with a bow tie.

"I would but I've been told that I lie too much already," Damon retorted automatically but he did take a second to admire how the suit fit the older vampire.

Kol grinned and pulled something that looked suspiciously like another suit, covered, off his wall. "Get dressed," he ordered. He threw the suit on top of Damon.

Damon set it aside with a scowl. "Why would I want to do that?"

"Come on now, darling. I've already promised Mother that I'll…behave myself tonight. No killing-"

"You promised to behave yourself?" Damon cut him off, a little incredulously.

"Yes and I can see it now. But I'm going to be forced into this, I may as well have some fun with it."

"So this is what you've been doing since I last saw you? Suddenly you're one big happy family?"

Kol took a few steps closer to him. "Are you angry with me?" He asked, amused.

"I'm just a little confused about why you want to play nice happy family with a guy who left you to rot for a century."

"Angry on my behalf then? That's sweet, darling but you can't kill Nik. And as delusional as it is of her, Mother seems rather determined that we should be family again." His tone turned mocking at the last bit.

"But it is a delusion?" Damon pressed.

"Of course. Nik will never accept someone who doesn't follow every one of his orders. Pretty sure that's why he left us all to rot. Mother will see it again as well. Maybe when he tries to rip her heart out again."

"And yet you still want to pretend?"

"I'm not much for worrying about the future, at least not at this moment." Kol picked up the suit he'd gotten for Damon. "So, are you coming with me? You can't kill Nik but I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunities to annoy him tonight."

"Well, gee," Damon started, voice heavy with sarcasm, "how could I pass up an opportunity like that?" But he accepted the suit from Kol and it had nothing to do with wanting to annoy any of Kol's siblings.

Xxxxxxx

_"Mayor Lockwood. We haven't formally met. Kol Mikaelson. I hope your lovely town embraces us just as much as we plan to embrace it." _

Damon watched the display with some amusement. Kol had disappeared on him sometime earlier and he tilted his head and held out his own hand.

"_Damon Salvatore. Have we met?" _

Kol took his hand and pulled him a bit closer. "_I've met a lot of people. You don't particularly stand out." _

"Ohhh. That hurts." Damon put his free hand against his chest in mock anguish. "Or maybe it's the old age getting to you." He was vaguely aware of Carol staring at him like he was crazy for what she most likely thought was antagonizing a thousand year old vampire.

"Perhaps you should try again to make an impression," Kol suggested, almost in his personal space.

"I don't know about that. You don't look like much yourself. Sure you can keep up?"

There was a choking noise from beside them that stopped Kol from answering and they both turned to Carol, who was red in the face and had a hand over her mouth.

"I'm sorry," she said, her eyes wide as she stared at them.

"It's alright," Kol stated, stepping back from Damon. "I should mingle, I suppose." He paused, appraising Damon. "Later," he promised before he slipped away from them.

"Are you going to tell me why you were just flirting with that…man?" Carol demanded. Damon was about to answer, smirk forming on his lips but he stopped short when he spotted Elena coming through the front door.

"Dammit," he cursed, striding quickly away from the mayor. He said nothing at first, simply grabbed her arm and dragged her back out, hopefully out of earshot of the vampires scattered through the crowd.

"Damon-"

"Are you insane?" He hissed, cutting off her protest.

"No, but I-"

"What? Thought it'd be a good idea to mingle with a bunch of originals?"

"You're here," she pointed out, stubbornly.

"_I _can defend myself. Also, I'm not the one who got a suspicious personal invitation."

"No, just one from Kol, right?" She sounded angry then and she crossed her arms.

"This isn't about Kol. Why didn't you tell me you were coming here? I thought at least Stefan would try and talk some sense into you."

"I'm capable of making my own decisions, Damon. I thought it'd be a good idea to find out what Esther wants."

"With no regard for your own life. Beginning to become bit of a theme, isn't it?" He matched her anger.

"Why do you even care?" She demanded, her eyes flashing. "You came here for someone else, didn't you? Why don't you go find him and leave me alone?"

He studied her expression a moment. "You're jealous," he stated, no doubt in his voice.

"I'm not," she insisted. "I also don't have time for this." She tried to push past him but he stopped her, grabbed her arm.

"No, seriously, Elena. I saw it in your eyes."

She hesitated briefly. "Would it matter if I was?"

Damon paused, thought about it. He'd loved her, still did he was pretty sure. But he'd also spent ten years of his life always going back to Kol. He'd considered giving up his search for Katherine because of Kol. And he'd only, finally, switched off his emotions after he'd thought Kol had left.

"I don't know," he answered finally, honestly.

Elena nodded, sighed, and then started away from him. "I really hope you're not making a mistake."

Xxxxxxxx

Her insides had turned to lead. Elena was sure of it as she walked away from Elijah, after _lying _to him, telling him what he wanted to hear, that his mother simply wanted their family together. Not the truth. Not what that woman was really planning.

_It was wrong. _The thought rang through her head again. Was it wrong? To let this happen? To sacrifice Elijah just for a shot at getting rid of Klaus? And not just Elijah. Elena stood at the bottom of the stairs, searching the crowd and she found them.

They were in a secluded corner of the large room. Damon and Kol. Elena had yet to meet Kol. She had no clue if he was just as much of a monster as Klaus was. But she did know Damon. Even with the distance between them, she could see his expression, see his eyes shining in a way that they rarely, if ever, did.

She had been jealous before. But, now, standing there, watching them and knowing, the jealousy was completely drowned out by a nearly overpowering sense of guilt and wrongness. She practically sprinted from the room, unable to watch as they drank those glasses that Esther had promised would kill them all.


	4. Chapter 4

This chapter takes place during All My Children and has a small sex scene at the beginning. But, seeing as how this site has a policy against NC-17 stories, it's not too terribly graphic.

Xxxxxxx

The bookcase pressed against the wall shook violently, and the clock hanging beside it nearly fell with the force that Damon put into shoving Kol into the wall near it. He ripped open the white dress shirt Kol had on and grinned in appreciation when he tossed that as well as Kol's jacket aside, leaving him nothing but his dress pants.

"We going to do this right here?" Kol asked, returning the favor with Damon's shirt and jacket.

"Why not? Can't hold me up?" Damon's eyes glittered with the challenge, or offer and Kol gripped his neck, reversing their positions.

He ripped at the rest of their clothes before lifting Damon up the wall. Kol lifted him high only to bring him back down again, sinking inside of him in one fast, smooth motion. It hurt, burned like it always did when they did it this way and he supposed if he were human that the hint of blinding pain that always came at first wouldn't recede the way it did for him but he was and his superior healing made it momentary.

It still burned as Kol started moving, lifting him up and back down again in a rhythm but it gave way to pleasure as well and the mixture of both was the best thing about this. Maybe it was because he was a vampire or maybe it was just him. When Kol lowered his head and bit into Damon's chest, right above his heart, he arched his back and the noises that escaped his throat would have been embarrassing if it were anyone else.

Xxxxxxx

"I can't do this." Elena wasn't looking at Stefan as she said the words. She kept her gaze on her drink, spinning the glass in her hands. They were sitting at her dining room table.

"You have to," Stefan argued automatically. "Look, I know you feel bad about Elijah but he did betray us and we need Klaus gone-"

"It's not just about Elijah," she interrupted. "You didn't see them together. Damon and Kol. They were…"

"You really think Damon cares about him?" Stefan asked skeptically. "Be serious, Elena. A week ago, he was in love with you."

"Maybe that's because he thought Kol had left him. You didn't _see. _And if he really does care about Kol…what would that make us? If we let this happen just for a shot at taking down Klaus?"

"Damon will get over it. I mean, I know he can't have cared too much for Kol. He did spend a hundred and fifty years searching out Katherine, didn't he? And then when that didn't work out…"

"Right." Elena glared at him. "You've been obsessed with taking out Klaus for a while. Maybe you'll do anything for that. Even if Damon loves Kol."

"He doesn't love him."

"But if he does?" Elena pressed. "Stefan…" She trailed off a moment, trying to think. "I care about Damon. Maybe I even…"

"Love him?" Stefan filled in for her stiffly.

Elena shrugged. "Maybe. I was never too sure about that. But I do know I care about him. If he cares about Kol…I just _can't _do that to him. I can't be a part of something that hurts him like that."

"And what do you thinks going to happen to him and countless other people if Klaus is left alive?" Stefan countered. "Klaus is too dangerous, Elena. We have to take this shot. It's the only one we have."

Elena sighed and stared into his eyes for a moment. "Okay," she finally relented but her mind was already racing. Stefan was too obsessed with this, with his revenge. He would literally do anything to kill Klaus at that moment.

She waited until Stefan left before she ran out herself, heading towards the boarding house.

Xxxxxx

Elena didn't knock. She hardly ever did. It wasn't out of discourtesy but Damon rarely answered when she knocked anymore, if he was even home so she had gotten into the habit of simply walking in. It was, this time, a mistake.

"Oh my god!" She yelled, turning around, only catching a glimpse of the two men in the living room, a glimpse of how Kol had Damon bent over the couch and was…

"How nice of you to drop by." Damon sounded highly amused and when Elena dared to peak, she saw that both men had gotten up.

The older vampire was suddenly in front of her. "You must be Elena. I'm Kol."

"Yeah, I am so not shaking your hand right now," Elena responded, keeping her gaze up enough that she only saw the top half of his face. She didn't even notice when Damon disappeared from the room, only to come back with a pair of pants on.

"Can I talk to you?" She pressed him, so very relieved when he threw a pair of jeans to Kol as well.

His and Kol's eyes met for a moment and she watched the silent conversation. Then he leaned close to Damon, whispered something that Elena couldn't hear but had a smirk fully bloom on Damon's face before the older vampire was gone, disappearing from the room in a flash.

"So, what can I do for you?" Damon asked, dropping down on the couch, still only half clothed but not seeming to care.

Elena looked him over. His hair was a mess and there were fading scratch marks marring his skin as well as dried blood. And yet, he looked completely relaxed and his eyes were shining with the same light she'd seen at the ball.

"I don't…so, you're gay now?" She blurted out first. She wanted to ask him other things. She wanted to ask him how much he really cared about Kol, what their relationship was like. But she knew Damon, knew that he'd deflect and maybe even lie if she asked that stuff right off. Besides, it was something she'd been thinking about.

But Damon only snorted and gave her a look that made her think he thought the question was stupid. "I'm a hundred and seventy years old, Elena. There isn't much I haven't tried."

"So, it's an experiment?" Elena pressed. "Because trying something is one thing but…" _but letting a thousand year old vampire bend you over a couch was another. _

"I like sex, Elena. People make way to big of deal about this stuff,_ trust_ me."

"But you let him…" She paused, unable to finish that thought. "You just…don't seem like the type."

"Sex is sex," he commented with a shrug, lifting his feet to rest them on the coffee table. He seemed highly amused by her line of questioning. "Why should I obsess over gender or the…_position_?"

"So, it's just about sex?" She asked skeptically.

"Why are you here?"

"I'm just…" Elena chewed her lip, trying to decide how she could make him tell her just what Kol meant to him. She started closer to him and he raised an eyebrow.

"You're just what?"

Elena didn't answer verbally; instead she leaned down, into his personal space, and before he could protest, kissed him. She kissed him the way that he'd kissed her before Kol had shown up. It only lasted a second, and then he pushed her away.

"What the hell are you doing?" He asked first.

"Looking for an answer," she responded, pulling away completely. "I think I just got it." She paused. She had to tell him the truth. "Damon, there's something-"

"Elena." A voice from behind interrupted her and she turned to see Stefan. "What are you doing here?"

"I was just…" She trailed off again at the look in Stefan's eyes and for a moment, they stared each other down. Damon looked between the two of them and stood, rolling his eyes in annoyance.

"As much as I'd love to stick around and watch you two make eyes at each other all night, I have plans. I'd find somewhere else to do that if I were you. Unless you want another show." He wagged his fingers at Elena before making a stop at the liquor cabinet and then heading up the stairs.

Stefan glared at her and grabbed her arm, dragging her outside. "Are you crazy?"

"No." She jerked out of his grip. "He deserves to know."

"No, he doesn't. You have to let this happen."

"I don't have to do anything," she retorted and then shoved past him, heading towards her car.

"Okay, fine," Stefan called to her. "When Klaus finally kills us all, I guess you'll feel good about the knowledge that you saved Kol and Elijah at the expense of all of us. At the expense of Damon and Caroline and Bonnie and yourself."

Elena only faltered for a second. But she couldn't agree with him. She didn't want to be that person. The person that believed the ends justified the means, no matter what.

Later, when Elijah showed up at her house, asking about what Esther had really said to her, she told him everything.

Xxxxxxxx

"Yeah, yeah. I'll meet you there." Damon held the phone between his ear and shoulder as he buttoned up his shirt and made his way downstairs. "What the hell is wrong with my liquor collection, by the way?"

_"Come on, darling. I want to have some fun." _

"You were having fun earlier," Damon pointed out a little smugly.

"_Yes, well, a little variety never hurt, does it? And if you come out with me, we can have a drink, and a snack before we head back into desert." _

_"_I said I would meet you, didn't I? Just give me a few." He hung up his phone before Kol had time to respond and went into the parlor to find his jacket, only to stop short at the sight of the vampire sitting in the chair in the corner.

"Elijah."

"Hello, Damon. I see my brother has made an impression."

"We're…catching up. What are you doing here?"

Elijah lifted the glass of alcohol he'd set aside earlier. "I had intended on coming with a warning. You see, I recently acquired something that I had thought you and your brother may want back."

Damon eyed Elijah warily. "Really not in the mood for more original games. So, why don't you stop being vague and just-"

"Elena," Elijah cut him off. "The one thing that I know will force you and your brother to stop your plan."

Damon stiffened. "What plan?"

The door banged open before he could get an answer, however and Stefan came in. "Damon! I need your help. I can't find Elena-" He stopped short at the sight of Elijah.

"He has her, apparently." Damon turned a glare on Stefan. "What the hell's going on?"

"Oh, Stefan. You didn't tell him? Shame on you." Elijah turned his gaze on Damon. "Your brother is in on a plan to kill us all, apparently. My mother linked us together. Myself, my brothers and my sister and she intends on killing us through this with the help of your witch friends."

"She's going to kill her own children?" Rage burned brightly through him as soon as the words registered. "You weren't going to tell me?" He asked, this question directed at Stefan.

"I would bet not," Elijah answered for Stefan. "You are engaged in an affair with my brother and Kol will die with the rest of us if my mother succeeds."

Terror mixed with the rage at these words. "What do we have to do to stop it?" He blurted out without even thinking first.

"Damon." Stefan's tone was furious and he grabbed his brother's arm. Damon shoved him off.

"Shut up, Stefan. You don't get to be angry at me over this."

"There is no need to fight," Elijah cut in. "Rebekah is holding Elena," he directed at Stefan. "So, you'll help or Rebekah will kill Elena." He turned his gaze on Damon. "As for you…whether you care about my brother enough to help based solely on that or if you care about Elena enough not to wish her dead is irrelevant at this time. All that matters is that you help me stop it."

Xxxxxxxx

"And what exactly do you want us to do?"

Alaric crossed his arms, standing beside Caroline and watching Stefan. The vampire had filled them in on the situation and he was at a loss for the moment.

"I just need to stall. Klaus doesn't know about this yet, at least I don't think he does and the originals are linked right now." He paused and pulled a dagger out of his pocket.

"Where'd you get that?" Caroline asked, her eyes widening slightly.

"Took it from Damon when he was…distracted. It's the one he had from waking up Elijah."

"But how will this help? Klaus isn't affected by the daggers."

"No, but the others are, including Rebekah. I'm hoping it'll buy us enough time so we can find her or she can escape on her own, maybe even enough time so that Esther can work her magic."

"So…which one do we use it on?" Alaric asked, accepted the dagger.

Stefan hesitated only briefly. "I know the easiest one to get to."

Xxxxxxxx

"What are we doing back here?" Kol asked in mild annoyance even as he let Damon drag him through the front door of the boarding house.

"I'm going to guess you haven't talked to Elijah today."

"Why would I? And what exactly has got you so riled up? When I left last, you seemed rather relaxed."

"Yeah, well, that was before your brother kidnapped Elena to coerce my brother into stopping your mothers plan to kill you all."

Kol stopped and the smile on his face died. "What did you say?"

"Apparently your mother's idea of 'being a family again' is killing you." Damon's tone was still casual, still his usual but he was internally very, very aware of the time, of how short of time they had to stop this from happening.

Kol stepped closer, right up into his personal space. "Tell me. Do you want to stop it because my brother has taken Elena or is there another reason?"

"I tell you that you've got a couple hours until your mother kills you and you want to waste time here?"

"One question, darling. It'll only take a second to answer."

"Fine. There may have been another reason. Now, can we go find a way to stop it?"

"One second." Kol gripped the back of his neck and brought him in for a kiss. It was short and fierce and Kol was the one who pulled away first. "I believe your friends are here."

Damon heard them as well, just before the door opened and Stefan and Alaric came into the house. Damon studied his brother's expression. "I'm going to assume you have a plan."

"I do, actually." He walked past Kol, so that he was in between them.

"Well, don't let me stop you," Kol said, facing the brothers, his back towards Ric. "Speak up."

Kol did not see it but Damon did, just a second before it happened. He saw Ric pull something from his back pocket, caught a glimpse of what it was. Kol saw his expression and turned, right into the dagger.

Stefan was fast too, his arm went around Damon's neck and there was the prick of a needle and a massive dose of vervain burning through Damon's veins. He slumped almost immediately at the same time that Kol did against Ric.

Stefan let him go at the same time as well and Damon fell face first on the carpet. He watched Kol's skin grey through fading vision before it went completely black.

Xxxxxxx

"What the hell?" Ric stared down at Damon before turning a glare on Stefan.

"I said you weren't going to like this," Stefan stated with a shrug, as he turned his brother on his back and tied his hands together.

"I'm just a little confused as to why you would attack your brother."

"He would've pulled the dagger out."

Ric shook his head. "Why the hell would he do that? He wants them dead just as much as you do, doesn't he?"

"I'm really not sure anymore." Stefan paused before he lifted Damon's dead weight, throwing him over his shoulder. "It doesn't matter. Are you going to help me or not?"

"Fine. But you're telling me everything that you left out before."

"Don't worry, Ric. By the time that Klaus figures this out and figures out it was Kol that we did this to, it'll be too late. Tonight, they're all going to die."


	5. Chapter 5

So, this new Original's spin off mean Klaus will no longer be a regular on Vampire Diaries? I've got one thing to say…YES!

Xxxxxxx

Damon woke with a start as soon as he hit the floor of the basement cell.

"…ow.." He couldn't actually move from the position his brother had dropped him in. In fact, Stefan had shot so much vervain into his system that black was still at the edges of his vision. He wasn't so out of it that he didn't notice Ric dropping Kol on the other side of the room.

"We doing this again, really?" He asked, grimacing at how weak he sounded and at the ropes burning into the skin of his wrists.

"I'm sorry," Stefan started. Damon snorted.

"Sure you are."

"I can't let you ruin this. They need to die, Damon. Elena trusted Elijah and look where that got her."

Again, he felt the sting of a needle and was cursing his brother even as he lost consciousness again. He completely missed the anti-climatic collapse of Stefan's 'brilliant' plan when Klaus came storming into the room.

If he'd been awake and coherent, he might have mocked his brother for not taking Kol to a place Klaus couldn't very easily get into.

Xxxxxxxx

Stefan honestly hadn't expected it to happen so fast, hadn't expected Klaus to figure things out so quickly. He only had a moment's of honest shock, however, when Klaus sped into the room, pulled the dagger from Kol's chest and stood glaring at Stefan.

"I should have killed you long ago." Klaus was seething, dagger still gripped in one hand. Stefan stood a little straighter.

"Go ahead. At least I'll die with the knowledge that you won't be far behind."

Klaus faltered, only for a moment, but before he could start forward or question that statement, there was movement and Stefan found himself blocked from Klaus' view. A hand gripped his neck, with near enough strength to break it. Kol's eyes were dark with rage.

"How about you tell _me _why I shouldn't rip your heart out?"

Xxxxxxxx

Generally, Kol was not as given to anger as Klaus. Generally, his anger died nearly as fast as it would come. In fact, most things that he felt were like that. Elijah used to call him volatile for this reason. He didn't grow attached to things as Elijah and Rebekah did. He didn't hold grudges the way that Klaus did. And he never saw the point of hating his own existence as Finn seemed to.

This was why his attachment to Damon Salvatore could be considered so surprising. Not that he had been with Damon, or even the amount of time that he had. Ten years really was nothing for someone who had been alive for a thousand years. But the surprising part was just how deep this connection went.

It went deeper than his usual affairs. He felt things for Damon Salvatore that he hadn't ever remembered feeling. So, when he came awake in the Salvatore's basement, he was angrier than he ever remembered as well.

He registered Klaus and Stefan first and then the unconscious body across the room. His temper snapped then and, without even thinking about it before, he had moved and a second later was holding Stefan in the air by his throat.

He didn't give Stefan the chance to answer the question he asked, instead he squeezed a little harder, crushing Stefan's throat. It would heal quickly, if Kol let go but the heat of rage was strong, enough so that he was close to punching his free hand through Stefan's chest. He might have done it if Elijah hadn't interfered.

"Kol, don't. We need him." Elijah pulled him away from Stefan, who dropped to the floor, one hand going to his throat as it rapidly healed.

"Elijah, what is going on?" Klaus interjected. Kol ignored them both, let Elijah explain to Klaus what their mother was planning. He stepped over the younger Salvatore to get to the older, ripping the ropes from his wrists as soon as he made it to Damon's still form.

He turned Damon over onto his back and frowned when Damon did not even twitch at the movement. And he realized that he was worried. Honestly worried.

"Kol." Elijah put a hand on his shoulder and Kol glared up at him. "We must leave."

"You leave," Kol snapped. He turned his glare on Stefan, who was still in the room as well. "You might want to as well." There was a threat clear in his voice. He picked Damon up easily and walked past both his brothers.

After he had settled Damon in his bed upstairs, he didn't even think of going to find a blood bag or another source. He bit into his own wrist.

Xxxxxxx

The capacity for real love was something that Elijah had never truly believed that his younger brother possessed. Even as a human, Kol's attention span had always been short. He moved around more than the rest of them, got bored easier and never seemed to make any real connections beyond their family.

His perception, however, shifted in the Salvatore's basement. He had seen something fierce in his brother's eyes, and then something almost tender when he had stared down at the eldest Salvatore. It was a look Elijah recognized and had never seen in Kol's eyes before.

And he thought that if _Kol _could look at another like that then maybe there was hope for them all.

Xxxxxx

When Damon woke up, the ache was almost completely gone and he was alert faster than he should have been. He sat up as soon as it hit him what had happened, a fear starting in his chest that he might have slept through…

"You're up, finally." The voice came from his left and Damon turned to see Kol sitting in the chair beside his bed.

"You're alive," he blurted out first. And awake.

"So far, yes."

"So far?" Damon frowned and glanced towards the table beside his bed to see the time.

"I suppose my brothers and sister have gone to confront our mother to try and stop her." Kol stood. "I should be there."

"So, why are you here? And how are you awake anyway? What the hell happened?"

Kol stepped closer to the bed, staring down at him with an intensity that he wasn't used to. "I shouldn't be here now. But…I couldn't seem to leave, not while you were…hurt."

The implication behind that statement was startling. That Kol had stayed despite the death sentence his mother was hanging over his head. Kol dropped down on the bed beside him.

"We should go," Damon said, because as startling as the admission was, it did make him remember that fear from before, that terror he had felt when Elijah had first told him about what might happen that night.

"No time," Kol commented and he almost sounded unconcerned.

"So, what? You're just going to sit here and see what happens?"

"Even if I go now, I wouldn't make it anywhere in time to change it."

"And you still chose to stay?"

"I did." Kol reached across and snagged the bottle of alcohol he had set on the table beside Damon's bed while Damon had been unconscious. Then he settled down against the headboard. "Come on. Have a drink with me."

"I can't just sit here." It went against everything in him to do that and he actually started to get up but Kol stopped him, grabbed his arm.

"You have to understand. I've never cared enough to stay before." And there were so many words he wasn't saying but that Damon got clearly with that sentence. "Stay with me." It was a request that Damon couldn't ignore so he sighed, dropped back down on the bed, and took the bottle when Kol offered it.

Two minutes afterwards, Kol's phone rang with the news that Esther's plan had failed. The relief Damon felt at that was as strong as anything he'd ever felt in his life.


	6. Chapter 6

I'm trying my best to characterize Kol through the very little screen time and development he had on the show. I can't seem to help but to take this a little OOC because aside from Finn, Kol was the least developed of the originals. So, I hope you guys like the way I'm taking his character…

Xxxxxxx

Stefan had just walked back into the boarding house when he was attacked. The plan had all gone sideways. The originals were all still alive and now they had even more to worry about. Granted, he was beginning to think that Klaus would never kill him. Klaus had been making those threats for ages but they'd all turned out to be empty.

What he was really worried about at that moment was Kol and Damon. While he still didn't really believe that Damon actually cared about the original, Stefan had locked his brother up again. There was a part of him that felt guilty for that, that wondered how far he was going to let himself take this revenge.

He didn't have long to contemplate how Damon was going to react when he saw his brother again. As soon as he stepped into the parlor, there was a blur of movement and he was thrown across the room, smashing painfully into the bookcase there.

He was up in a moment and was fighting back. Stefan hadn't actually fed properly in a while, not since he'd threatened to drive Elena off the bridge so the fight didn't last long. He found himself pressed against the wall beside the bookcase he'd crashed into with his brother's forearm digging into his throat. Damon's eyes were blazing with fury.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Damon got out through gritted teeth.

"They need to die," Stefan answered. Damon growled and then tossed Stefan across the room again.

"You really are an asshole, Stefan." Damon was on him as soon as he landed, grabbing his collar and pulling him close. "How far exactly are you going to take this?"

"As far as I have to." The determination was still there but it faltered slightly when he caught something else in Damon's expression, something other than anger.

"And then what? When you've destroyed your life just to take down Klaus? Then what are you going to do?" He let go, shoving Stefan back.

"Klaus already destroyed everything," Stefan stated.

Damon's fists clenched. "So tell me what happens, Stefan? What happens if you get what you want? What happens after Klaus is gone?"

Stefan sighed, his shoulders slumping slightly. "I don't know. What I do know is that there is no going back to before."

"So that's it? You're just going to…" Damon trailed off and, if anything, he just looked angrier. "Is this going to end with you out again at sunrise without your ring?"

Stefan considered that a moment. He considered everything. All the people he'd killed when he'd left with Klaus. How he'd terrorized Elena when he'd finally been ordered back to Mystic Falls…

"Maybe," he finally answered, truthfully. Damon lost it again at that and let loose a punch that threw Stefan back a few feet. Damon turned immediately after, heading for his liquor cabinet and snagging a full bottle of bourbon. He didn't bother with a glass, instead taking a long drink straight from the bottle.

"Revenge all you care about now, is it?" He asked with a scowl.

"It's all I have left."

"You really believe that, don't you?"

"Oh, come on Damon," Stefan started, irritated. "Elena hates me for what I almost did to her. I've killed so many people…I can't control it anymore."

"Yeah, life sucks. Maybe we should all take the easy way out." The words were scathing and Damon dropped down in the chair nearest the fireplace.

"You don't understand-"

"Oh, shut up, Stefan! I get it. You feel guilty and it's easier to focus on revenge than that. It's so much easier to fucking blame Klaus and go after him than…I don't know, try and deal with your own damn life…"

"Damon-"

But Damon stood, cutting him off and got in his face again. "The bitch of it is that I agree with you, partly. I want Klaus dead just as much as you do. But I'm not willing to kill _Elena _to achieve that goal."

Stefan blinked, surprised. He got the message clearly in those words. Stefan had been willing to let Kol die to get to Klaus. They weren't the same, he'd thought at the time. He'd heard Elena's words, heard her say that she thought the thing between Damon and Kol was more than another one of Damon's flings. He hadn't believed it himself. He'd been pretty damned sure that Damon loved Elena.

He wasn't even sure, in that moment what he would have done even if he'd believed it. He'd been living for the revenge since Klaus had released him from his compulsion. It had been the only thing he could think about for a while now.

"You're a fucking coward," Damon stated, his glare heating up again.

"What?" Stefan gave a start, anger sparking in him as well.

"This was all on purpose, right? You pulled that shit with Elena so she'd hate you, right? Then you can run out into the sun and what? Nobody would care? Because you think it'll be easier that way?" He shoved the bottle of alcohol into Stefan's chest. "Go on and destroy yourself, Stefan and I know you think your life just can't get any worse but I'll make sure it does if you pull any of that shit you tried with Kol again."

He walked away then, and Stefan watched him go without moving. After a moment, he took a drink from the bottle and dropped down on the couch. The conversation had taken a surprising turn. He'd expected anger, he'd expected threats. What he hadn't expected was the new insight into whatever it was Damon and Kol had.

The guilt that had taken root in him from the moment Klaus had lifted his compulsion-and even before that-expanded. He and Damon were continually hurting each other, had been since they'd first met Katherine but it wasn't something he'd ever enjoyed.

He'd thought several times, since returning to Mystic Falls, that he wished they could stop doing that, that he wished they could go back to the way they'd been before Katherine. He did not want to destroy whatever tenuous connection he and Damon had managed to form since they had both returned to Mystic Falls.

It was ironic that, according to Damon, the best way to destroy it was the kill Klaus, the vampire they'd been trying to figure out how to kill for months.

Xxxxxxx

"You're leaving, are you?" Kol was watched his older brother from his seat.

"Yes, for a while." Elijah did not turn to look at him. He'd been brooding what had happened with their mother.

Kol had tried to connect that as well. He'd tried to be something other than angry at what his mother had done. Rebekah had been hurt. Hell, even Klaus had been but all he'd been was angry and even that had faded after her plan had failed.

He'd even wondered how fucked up that made him. He didn't really care, in the end. He didn't care about her. He felt no connection to her. He'd played along with her idea of them being a family again because of Elijah, Rebekah, and Klaus but that had been the only reason.

"You put too much stock into all of this," he spoke up finally.

"Into what?" Elijah turned to face him, a frown on his face. "Into family?"

"Maybe." Kol shrugged. "Maybe people put too much stock in blood." His lips twitched involuntarily at his own words.

"So it wouldn't matter to you? That we are family?"

Kol's expression twisted a bit as he thought about it. "Nik stuck a dagger in my chest and left me to rot in a coffin for near to a hundred years. I have no doubt he'd do that again if I get in the way of something he wants. I don't hold grudges, Elijah, but I also don't care to hold positive feelings of family and loyalty to someone like that."

"And myself? Rebekah?"

Kol considered him a moment. And maybe Elijah and Rebekah were the only ones he'd ever felt any sort of familial connection towards. Rebekah hated him in a way that was entirely sisterly. They had been the youngest and had spent their human years bickering and chasing after their older brothers.

And Elijah…Elijah had always been so damned forgiving, so understanding. How easily he'd forgiven Nik had been testament to that.

"Perhaps you've made your own family, yes?" Elijah asked. He came to stand before Kol, and put his hands on his younger brother's shoulders. "I do hope you are happy."

"I know," Kol answered with a roll of his eyes. "I also know that you'd say that even if I was the one who stuck that dagger in your chest instead of Nik." He stood, and considered his next words for a second, but, in the end, decided he didn't care how they sounded.

"It's probably why you'd be the one I'd miss most." He paused, and grinned. "Even if it makes you the biggest idiot in this house."

Elijah almost smiled at that and reached out to grasp one of Kol's shoulders again. "Take care of yourself."

Elijah was gone a second later and Kol had no other reason to stay in the house.

Xxxxxxxxx

When Damon made his way back into the boarding house later that night, he'd drank enough that he was feeling that comfortable buzz. It was as close to drunk as he could get without downing enough booze to kill a normal person.

He'd found Ric at the bar and knew something was up with the teacher but neither of them had spoken about their respective problems. It was one of the reasons he liked drinking with Ric. Other than the fact that the man was probably the only human Damon had ever met who could manage to keep up with him.

And he'd needed to get a little bit drunk after that conversation with Stefan. Not that it was much different than some of the ones he and Stefan had had in the past. He'd maybe even been expecting this out of Stefan at some point after he'd gotten free from Klaus. Self destruction was one of Stefan's defaults.

But it didn't piss him off any less. He was pissed at Stefan for always dealing like this. And he was pissed at himself for being anything other than angry. For the thought that Stefan had only started down this road because he'd been trying to save Damon's life. Plus, as much as he had claimed to hate Stefan over the century and a half since they'd been turned, he'd never actually been able to let Stefan die.

Not for the first time, he wondered if this fucked up town with all of its fucked up residents were going to eventually drive him crazy. Dysfunctional didn't quite cover it. He'd hated himself before. Hated what he was and wished for something he could never have again.

Still, when he made it up to his room and found Kol lying on his bed, reading whatever book Damon had left on his nightstand, when Kol automatically pulled him down on his bed, and when he was arching up with Kol moving above him and inside him, he figured there were some pretty awesome perks to being what he was.


End file.
